Ancient Madapari
The Madapari are an extremely ancient civilization. They are considered among the first starfaring races in the Milky Way. They are so old that even the ancients knew them as ancient. Unfortunately, their age leaves much about them to be unknown, and much of what the modern scholar 'knows' about the Madapari comes down to elaborate guesswork based on limited surviving evidence and accounts from races that came after. Their name derives from what the Desan called them, madapari simply meaning 'Wayfarers'. As little of the language has survived or been translated over the ages, it is not certain what the Madapari called them Still, there is no doubt that the Madapari were a great civilization, whose legacy lives on in the present day. Madapar, their former Homeworld, is the summit of the Congress of Madapar. Rainbow worlds, understood to be a phenomenon originally caused by the Madapari colonization process, fascinate modern explorers. The crystalline sculptures and crafts they made are coveted as masterpieces today and sought-after as heirlooms, souvenirs, and jewelry, as well as generic archaeological artifacts. History Madapari influence was generally positive in the, at the time, comparatively empty galaxy. Their hegemony of our galactic region is known affectionately as the Age of Enlightenment, though some may prefer Age of Harmony or Age of the Madapari instead. They expanded strictly through colonization (at which they were adept) and pursued a policy of benevolence towards less-advanced civilizations they encountered. Over time, after extensive study, they took some of these primitives and assisted them technologically, uplifting them in their own vision. From these uplifted species, as well as other starfarers they inevitably encountered in their travels, the Madapari formed the federation known today as the Enlightened Races. This federation was built primarily on a set of codes and guidelines, in which the most important tenet was pacifism. The Enlightened eventually established itself as the hegemon of our region of the galaxy, primarily through peaceful expansion, but also largely through voluntary integration of some species (deemed advanced enough and non-violent enough), and of course by trade and negotiation. This overwhelming diversity of cultures concentrated in one alliance eventually lead to xenophobic misunderstandings and, by extension, conflicts. These small-scale brushfires were of little consequence to the Enlightened's hegemony. War was the exception rather than the rule, that is, until this period of our galactic zone's came to an end. The Age of Enlightenment was shattered by The Upheaval, as it is today known, when this federation buckled under its own weight. An outside power is known to have meddled in its affairs, breaking down its inner negotiations and causing strife. The following period of warfare between imperialistic species that had been unwittingly brought into the fold lead to some of the first true interstellar empires, in the form of the Shara and the Morguta. It is known that during the early stages of the Upheaval, the Madapari and their closest friends were so anguished and so shamed by the total collapse of all they had worked for, that they decided to leave the galaxy to its own devices, and departed for somewhere else. They left in some hurry, leaving behind many fragments of their legacy for the modern world to re-discover, as well as some abandoned major projects such as ongoing terraforming operations. Their homeworld, Madapar, is no longer capable of supporting sapient life, but is an influential world politically for the reasons mentioned before. In addition it is a treasure trove for knowledge about this ancient race - but in almost 200,000 years there have been enough scavengers and excavations that there is little left to find for the intrepid modern explorer. The last major excavation project terminated over 2500 years ago. One thing that has stood the test of time is a memorial altar located in an inconspicuous mound near the site of a former major city. It resembles a stele or obelisk, crowned with a pyramidion of electrum. On each of its faces is several engravings translating the same message into more than 20 languages. While most modern scholars (human or not) only possess a limited understanding of the Madapari written language, the 19 others are often more readily understood. Assuming these steles each say the same thing, they read: "Enlightened brothers, It would seem that to spite our tireless efforts, War has come to our doorstep. It knocks on the door, rears its many heads, it grows impatient with complacency. It has come, to relieve us of our happiness, to rid us of our accomplishments, to end us. But let it be known to all: War has come to our doorstep. One cannot decapitate the Many-Headed One. Understand your past, and you may know this to be true. Understand our past, and you will know it to be true. We Wayfarers will answer War, will speak to him, entertain him; but we have always succeeded in not letting him through the door. But now he comes. He comes strengthened by the delusions of an army of delinquents. Rather than fight a futile and petty struggle with him, we have chosen to leave him to his devices. So let it be known to all: War has come to our doorstep. But we have left house and home this time." It is a message which conveys more about the Madapari worldview than most other surviving translated records do. It says, in more plain language (the Madapari had a reputation for speaking very flamboyantly) that war is endless and futile, and to participate in it is only to worsen and propagate it. Rather than try to cut off the heads of an immortal snake, the Madapari and the Enlightened say they have simply chosen to leave. It is a heartfelt farewell. Mythology It is known that the Madapari had at least one surviving culturally-significant deity by the time of their travels across the stars: the God of War, alluded to as the Many-Headed One. While the Madapari cared little for gods and divination, they were not always this way, and the story of how the God of War came to be was a haunting legend up until and through those gasping moments when the Madapari nearly destroyed themselves in atomic fire. War was originally like any other god: he took the shape of mortals (mainly having just one head). Technology The field in which the Madapari excelled most was in manipulating their environment. Their ecological engineering and stellar manipulation capabilities far surpass any other starfaring race since their departure. They are the only such race for whom terraforming whole planets was a viable operation. Although the Madapari were staunch pacifists, they and the Enlightened Races maintained a military largely as a deterrence force, and the most eloquently detailed and prestigious part of this military was the Engineer Corps.